shmi

This week's readings were at first glance an odd set of texts to read in succession: there seems to be very little commonality between the verbiage and the age of the Barthes essay and the web blogs around memes and their commercialization. However, as far as the connection between subject matter goes, I think it is equally simple to draw very natural links between them:

I accidentally became a meme: In this video series by Buzzfeed, people behind viral memes are invited to share the stories of their lives before and after their images or videos were uploaded to the internet and became popular as memes. In the particular video shared, Drew Scanlon mentions two specific things which I was drawn to. First, he talks about the delta of time between the actual work being created (when the original video of his reaction was filmed) and when the video finally reached its 'critical mass' on the internet. Next, he also mentions that at one point the popularity of the meme "...felt out of my control". In the context of The Death of The Author, the creator of the video is akin to the author. Just like the author has very little control over the contextualization and appropriation of their work by the readers, Drew has no control over how a global online audience is choosing to repurpose his reaction and amalgamate it with their own content. Similarly, there is no end to the relevance of the creation: it simply has its highs and lows.

There were a lot of points brought up by both Harris and Harari in this ~hour long interview which made me think through a variety of fields, but the points I'd like to mention mainly belong to the categories of philosophy (knowing yourself better) and behavioral science (convenience dependence):

At the very end of the interview, one of the things Harari mentions is the value in 'knowing yourself better'. Contextually, it refers to knowing your own weaknesses more to avoid getting trapped and influenced by the barrage of recommendation systems in your life, which may not always lead you in the best direction. Thinking about how I have been able to practice knowing myself better, Hermann Hesse's name popped into my mind. He was himself influenced by Carl Jung, and placed deep emphasis on the fact that you don't get enlightened, you enlighten yourself. I believe getting to accept your own self and trying to analyze yourself can only help you make more informed decisions today, when everything around you is hell-bent on keeping you distracted 24/7.

"Because I look at life as retouching. Makeup, clothes, are just an accessorization of your being, they are just a transformation of what you want to look like" - Collins in 'Pixel Perfect'

“You know when you get a really good haircut, and you feel like the best version of yourself? This is that feeling, but exponential.” - Tolentino in 'The Age of Instagram Face'

Reading pixel perfect felt like an unsolicited trip to an uncomfortable question. Where does 'over-refining' begin, and 'feeling like your best self' end? The article introduced me to Dangin, who is not someone I would've otherwise known by name – but someone who I'm sure has contributed in making me feel 'a kind of bottomless need that I associated with early adolescence. It reminds me of this article, which I read while in my undergraduate, when I was throroughly upset with a photo someone had taken of me.

That's been a pervasive feeling, of not feeling like candid shots of me in the routines of daily life ever come out as 'good as they should'. While reading the previous article, I stumbled upon this other article, which suggested that fashion magazine editors maintain the idea that what they put out is not taken at face value (pun intended). I however, disagree. Even if the logical part of my brain knows that someone 50 years old isn't looking like a 24 year old in real life; or that if I sit in a relaxed state, my hips and shoulder blades won't stick out at exceptional angles and capture light in the most balanced way, that's where the impact of photography is so different from any other form of art. In the way that we grown up to consume media, I am able to discount a beautiful painting, a lovely description, or an eloquent song by thinking that the artist has taken liberties to 'cover up any blemishes' and present an ideal version of what they were imagining when creating their art. In photography however, we do not lend ourselves that wide lens – photos stick to our mind as they are.

Adding to this insidious cause, I look at Dangin's work not as aesthetic creation as much as being part of the problem. He admits as much himself: 'He admitted that he was complicit in perpetuating unrealistic images of the human body, but said, “I’m just giving the supply to the demand” '.

This also lends to larger idea of the 'male gaze' in film and photography. While reading Collins, I can't help but think of what Dangin visualizes when he sees a photo of a person that needs to be retouched. When reading the article, I did not see why the Demarchelier photo had anything 'wrong' about it, until the edited version came along. Much is telling about Dangin's psyche also in that he refers to blemishes and blips as 'anomalies'.

The fact that by the end of researching for the article, Tolentino started feeling self-conscious, even though she was perfectly healthy, is disquieting. It also made me think how much of my life have I spent not living life as me, but going through the motions as if someone was always observing my every single move. The answer was unsettling, because most if not all my memories of my life seem to be in the third-person.

Homework #2

A couple of things stood out to me from this week's reading:

Chapter 2 - 'Reading the Signs' by R. Salkeld: In talking about connotation and denotation, the author asks us to consider perfume advertisements and how to represent an invisible commodity. This reminded me of a Twitter thread I had recently come across, detailing something very similar - Why are perfume ads so weird? The author of the tweet reflects on how the 'moneyshot' for perfume ads is heavy eyelids, blinking, scenes with a certain 'heavyness' to them. (Ref to first image). She also goes on to mention some unconventional advertisements which break the genre stereotypes and make the transition from regal -> quirky (Ref to second image)

Chapter 2 - 'Reading the Signs' by R. Salkeld: The book includes an endearing photo of two old men, which can be easily construed as them being friends – yet the caption reveals something very different. This immediately made me think of how social media is absolutely inundated with images of people posing in groups and social settings, only to not have any significant connections. We as viewers get to see the highlight reel of everyone else's life, and despite knowing this, fall into the trap of comparing it to our 'behind the scenes' (Ref to third image)